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Public procurement in the defense sector: New guidelines

Public procurement in the defense sector: New guidelines

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16 Jan 2026
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Public agencies subordinate to the Norwegian Ministry of Defense ("Ministry") has since 2004 had their own set of rules for their public defence sector has its own set of rules for conducting procurement procedures in the public defence sector (In Norwegian called: "Anskaffelsesregelverket for forsvarssektoren", in practice referred to as "ARF").

On 1. January 2026, the Guidelines for Procurement Procedures in the Defence Sector ("Guidelines") were published, available here. The official name of the Guidelines in Norwegian is "Retningslinjer for anskaffelser i forsvarssektoren" and are referred to as "RAF". The Guidelines replace ARF.

Compared to ARF, it is striking to observe that the level of detail has been reduced significantly. While ARF largely referred to and repeated legislation which could be found elsewhere, the Guidelines are more focused on topics where there is a need for guidance for the Ministry's subordinate agencies. 

We highlight the following content:

  • Purpose: to ensure a uniform and to the extent possible harmonized practice within the public defence sector and conduct of procurement procedures in line with the Norwegian Act and applicable Regulation, guidelines and development within the field of public procurement. Further, RAF shall contribute to ensuring that the defence sector acts with high ethical standards and integrity.
     
  • Scope of application – also in relation to procurements under the exemption under the EEA agreement article 123:
    • RAF applies to all Defence Sector procurements; part I to all procurements, whilst part II for procurements with value above a set threshold of NOK 300 000, contracts on property lease or purchase excluded.
    • RAF part III applies for procurements exceeding NOK 300 000 where the exemption in the EEA Agreement article 123 partly or fully is applicable.
      • This provision from the EEA agreement (an agreement between the EFTA States Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway and the EU member states, which includes the mentioned EFTA states in the EU internal market) represents an exemption from the ordinary rules derived from the EEA agreement when an exemption is required inter alia for security interests.
      • In a procurement context, a procurement procedure will not be conducted according to the Norwegian Act on Public Procurement and the applicable procurement Regulation if the public agency has assessed that article 123 of the EEA agreement is required.
      • The Guidelines set out the Ministry's requirements when there is a basis to use the exemption in the EEA-agreement article 123.
  • Legal status: the Guidelines are not a legal source as such from which third parties (i.e. suppliers) can directly derive rights from, but the Guidelines have the status of an internal instruction within the public defence sector agencies, i.e. the Ministry and public agencies subordinate to the Ministry. Today this consists of:
    • Norwegian Armed Forces (in Norwegian: "Forsvaret").
    • Norwegian Defence Estates Agency (in Norwegian: "Forsvarsbygg").
    • Norwegian Defence Materiel Agency (in Norwegian: "Forsvarsmateriell").
    • Norwegian Defence Research Establishment (in Norwegian: "Forsvarets forskningsinstitutt").
    • State Classified Platform Services (in Norwegian:"Statens graderte plattformtjenester").
    • Norwegian Armed Forces Museum (in Norwegian: "Forsvarshistorisk museum").
       
  • Ethical requirements:
    • Handling of suppliers with personnel hired from the public defence sector is governed, marketing and the use of the public defence sector a reference are topics specifically governed by the Guidelines.
    • Specific ethical requirements for the public defence sector's engagement and contact with the industry are included as  Annex 1.
    • Emphasis is placed on:
      • respect and implementation of fundamental human rights. Of particular interest is a responsibility to ensure that suppliers governed by the Norwegian Transparency Act comply with it.
      • prevention of social dumping and work related criminal acts.
      • prevention of corruption .
      • implementation of measures to ensure environmental sustainability in procurement procedures, with the inclusion of climate goals for the specific procurement.
    • Ethical self-declarations for suppliers are included as Annex 4 (in Norwegian) and  Annex 5 (in English) to RAF.
       
  • Administrative provisions, cost control, remuneration schemes, and payment is governed.
     
  • Certain contractual provisions, such as:
    • Intellectual property rights: the Guidelines includes contract provisions on the handling of intellectual property rights in contracts with the public defence sector, such as 1) Ownership of intellectual property and 2) Royalties for usage rights.
      • The main rule is that non-exclusive license agreements shall be used.
    • Suppliers use of property held by the public defence sector.
    • Currency: the currency of supplier's home state is standard and mandatory content of any currency provision is included.
    • Guarantee in the form of a parent company guarantee (on demand) to be used in case of doubt of the supplier's financial standing.
    • Contract provisions from RAF provisions has to be expressly referred to or included as part of the relevant agreement or contract, to be applicable and enforceable under the contract in question.
  • Industry cooperation:  a scheme used when foreign suppliers are awarded large contracts and where the supplier commits itself to ensure value creation for Norwegian industry.
    • This scheme applies in procurement procedures governed by EEA agreement article 123 and the contract value exceeds NOK 100 million.
    • Annex 6 includes the Provisions on Industrial Cooperation for Defence Procurements (in Norwegian: "Bestemmelser for industrielt samarbeid ved forsvarsanskaffelser i utlandet", shortened to "BIF"), which set out the requirements for such agreements.
  • Drone strategy for the Norwegian Defence sector. See our update here.
  • The Norwegian Regulation on Defence and Security Procurements has been reviewed and changes are suggested. See our short update here
  • For reference on the existing rules on procurement within the defence and security sector in the Nordic region, DLA Pipers Nordic public procurement team have published articles on the rules within each jurisdiction. These articles are written in English and publicly available below:

Although third parties cannot derive rights or obligations from the Guidelines, lack of compliance by a public authority covered by them, represents a breach of internal instruction, which again in practice could have an indirect effect/consequence on third parties. If any of the RAF provisions are to be included as part of an agreement or contract, this must be expressly stated in the contract.

The new Guidelines provides in our view an easier approach to the public defence sector's handling of procurement procedures and compared to the former ARF, due consideration to proportionality and simplification has in our view been largely ensured. 

For further insight on the latest hot topics and an overview of the legal framework in Norway and the Nordics please see our other publications:

For inquiries or further information, please contact partner Line Voldstad and/or managing associate Morten Gullhagen-Revling in our Defence EU, Competition and Procurement team. 

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